Nova Scotia legislature wraps up business after 11-day fall sitting

CP

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's legislature has risen after a 11-day fall sitting, the first for the new Liberal government.

The session saw the Liberals pass 11 bills, including one aimed at opening up the province's electricity market to producers of renewable energy and another establishing a statutory winter holiday beginning in February 2015.

The government also amended a contentious labour bill that removed time elements from so-called first contract arbitration for negotiations involving newly unionized workplaces and passed legislation to outlaw the importation of waste water from hydraulic fracturing.

The government says it has moved quickly to show it was serious about its election promises, but both the Opposition Progressive Conservatives and NDP say the Liberals are off to a slow start in tackling problems such as the province's weak economy.

The session was also marked by accusations of patronage by the opposition parties after the government revealed that it had hired defeated Liberal candidate Glennie Langille as the province's new chief protocol officer.

But the government then revealed that the former NDP government topped up severance packages for departing staffers in the premier's office by an extra $250,000 a week after it was defeated.